Lies, Truths, and Fairytales
by Lattelady
Summary: Emma lied to Henry on more than one occasion. This is my fixit with a bit of Rumbelle romance in the background. It covers all three seasons and brings things full circle, because it isn't always easy to get a person to believe in fairytales, even when your are telling the truth. A situation that both mom and child experience in my story.
1. Ch 1 - Lies

**Disclaimer: **_Once Upon A Time _and all of its characters belong to Disney, the writers and creators of the show. I am only playing with them

**Notes: **This story is plays around with what was written, but takes a left turn into **AU** when I felt it was necessary. It started out as a simple story about a mother and her child, but since I am an incurable romantic, there is a touch of Rumpel and Belle in the last two chapters. I couldn't help myself. This is my first attempt in this wonderful fandom – Enjoy!

**Note 2: **Chapter 1 of 4

**Lies, Truths, and Fairytales**

By

_Lattelady_

Ch. 1 – Lies

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"_There were lies we told to save ourselves, and then there were lies we told to rescue others. What counted more, the mistruth, or the greater good?"_ – Jodi Picoulti, _Handle with Care_

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_Middle of Season I_

Emma blinked, unsure if she had heard Henry correctly. Had he really asked her about his dad? Her mind whirled with how to respond; at the same time she mentally kicked herself for not being prepared for the question. Honesty was always best, but how could she tell him what really happened? The kid had to have one parent he was proud of and right now he had a…an inventive idea that his adoptive mom was a powerful Evil Queen, straight out of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Henry was plotting her magical downfall. Nope, under the circumstances, that didn't exactly make Regina mother of the year.

The sheriff knew that she wasn't any better. Family, loving and belonging were a foreign concept, a long lost dream. She was a foster child who had clawed her way through the system, getting tougher and harder each year of her life. Henry had come looking for her, but it was because he though she was the 'Savior' who would break a Curse that had transported all the residence of The Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke, Maine and taken away their happy endings. Just the though of what he believed her to be made her stomach clench and filled her with self-doubt.

He didn't see Emma Swan, as she really was, tough, tenacious, and about as lovable as a grizzly bear. She was a rolling stone who gathered no moss. When he finally pulled his head out of his fairytale book and saw the truth, she was sure he wouldn't want her anymore than anyone else had. Then he would be gone too.

That only left Neal Cassidy, but if she told Henry the truth, the boy would have no one to look up to. She couldn't do that to him. She had loved him enough to give him up for adoption ten years ago; she could do this much for him now. She could leave him with the small gift of a lie, a father who was special, since it seemed both of his mothers were lacking.

It was a simple matter of exchanging Neal's face for the blurry one that had been her imagined father's, when she'd still bothered to try and put a face to her parents. A bit more juggling and the man didn't go back into a burning car to try and save his wife, after being sure his baby daughter was safely by the roadside, but Fireman Cassidy who ran into a burning building to get an unconscious child. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. He died from smoke inhalation, after giving his breathing gear to the youngster he rescued.

"Emma, you don't have to tell me if it makes you sad." Henry gently patted her arm.

"No…no, kid, that's all right." She cleared her throat and fought down the niggling feeling that telling this lie was going to come back to haunt her. "He was a hero, your father. A fireman who went into a burning building to save a child." Emma told herself it was necessary to make the man a hero in order to give her son something to believe in, other than a storybook. "He got the little boy out, but there was too much smoke and your dad didn't make it."

"A hero, wow." Henry grinned and his eyes lit up with joy. He'd always wondered about his parents. The second he met Emma he could tell that she was everything that Snow White and Prince Charming's child should be and he was thrilled she was his mom. He knew that she didn't believe yet, not in the real Enchanted Forest or herself, but she was getting there.

"You've got his eyes." The words slipped out before she could stop them.

"I'm glad." He knew he had Emma's stubbornness, and her smile. It was nice to know that part of his dad lived on in him.

"I think this conversation is something we should keep under Operation Cobra." She added.

"Cool, Operation Cobra it is." He was aware that his mom, the Evil Queen one, liked to think his eyes looked like hers. He didn't want to hurt her. He only wanted to break her Curse and be allowed to spend time with Emma, too. "Will you tell me more about my dad?"

"Someday, when you are older, I will tell you all about him, I promise." Just saying it made her feel better. When Henry grew out of his fairytale phase, she would tell him everything, including the fact that she hadn't told the truth to a ten year-old child. Hadn't told that child that his dad had been a criminal who let his mom take the rap for his crimes, causing her to give birth in a prison infirmary.

She knew that Regina had been sure to tell him where he was born in an effort to blacken Emma's name. It wasn't necessary for him to know that Neal had been involved, at least not until he was older.

**TBC**


	2. Ch 2 - Truths

**Disclaimer: **See Ch 1

**Pairing: **Rumbelle and Swan/Neal if you squint – it is time appropriate for late S2

Ch. 2 – Truths

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"_The truth is rarely pure and never simple."_ – Oscar Wilde, _The Importance of Being Eanest_

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_On The Jolly Roger sailing back to Storybrooke from Manhattan –_

Emma was at the wheel. She clenched the well-worn wooden handles…uh…spokes, Neal had called them, in each hand, as she held to the compass setting that would get them home. He was below deck and had promised he wouldn't be gone long, but she'd believed him before and it had cost her everything. At least this time, they were in the Atlantic with no land in sight. She didn't think he would abandon his son, when he'd just discovered him and no matter how angry he was at his farther, she doubted he'd leave him behind, as the older man became weaker and weaker from poison coursing through his system. Once before she'd been wrong about who and what Neal Cassidy would turn his back on, so she put her faith in the water all around them…nope, this time he wasn't going to be leaving without her knowing about it.

She was nervous sailing the ship, but Neal had needed to check on his dad…Oh God; she didn't even want to think about that. Rumplestiltskin was her child's grandfather! Could the kid's family tree get any more complicated?

"I don't think you're supposed to squeeze the spokes so tightly." Henry noted in a cool voice. His mom's fingers were turning white from the stranglehold she had on the ancient wood.

"At least you're speaking to me again." She smiled hopefully and tried to loosen her grip.

The boy's brows rose, his mouth remained in a tight straight line, and his usually bright, brown eyes were flat and cold. Emma watched him with dismay. She had seen that exact expression on Mr. Gold's face when she had him locked in a jail cell and had offered him half-a pastrami sandwich in exchange for the favor she owed him. Damn she wished he'd taken her up on it.

"Okay, don't talk to me, but you need to listen."

"You lied to me!" He shouted, finally giving vent to his anger.

"Yes, I did and given the same circumstances, I'm not sure I wouldn't do it all over again. You gotta remember I was still new to Storybrooke and all this fairytale stuff…it was too much for me." She carefully checked the compass and lined up the front…the bow…of the ship. Henry's face was a storm cloud, but he hadn't walked away and left her, as he had in Neal's apartment, maybe she could still make this right.

"You would lie again?" The kid huffed, angrier than she'd seen him in the year she'd been in Storybrooke. She could practically see steam coming out of his ears.

"You didn't hear what I said." Emma was fighting for her child's trust and she knew that only the truth would get it back. "I said given-the-same-circumstances. You have to remember how new I was to Storybrooke."

"You didn't believe me?" Tears formed in Henry's eyes but he wouldn't let them fall. "Operation Cobra was all a game to you?"

"I believed in _you_, Henry, with all my heart. That is different than doubting your beliefs. Why do you think I didn't go back to Boston? I knew from the moment you told me about your book that you thought the stories were true, but I grew up in the outside world. It is asking a lot to change my way of thinking in a matter of hours, days or even weeks. I was trying to make sense of all that was happening, because of you."

"You are the Savior. You should have believed."

"How old were you when Regina told you that Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy weren't real?" It was senseless to argue about her being the Savoir. She hardly understood it now, and back then, it was a fairytale someone had gotten wrong.

"This is my father we're talking about, not some imaginary characters made up to entertain children." He threw his arms in the air and turned to walk away.

"Exactly, Henry. That-is-my-point, 'imaginary characters made up to entertain children'. I had twenty-eight years of believing that Snow White, The Evil Queen, Beauty and The Beast, and all the others were just that." Emma could tell she had his attention by the way his shoulders relaxed and he was fighting turning around to look at her. "So answer my question, how old were you?"

"She didn't tell me; I told her." He grumbled as he slid to the deck and met Emma's eyes. "I figured it out in first grade, but played along for another two years, because it made her happy." He looked a bit sheepish and added, "That was for Santa and the Easter Bunny. We never did the Tooth Fairy thing, now I understand why."

"I bet you do, kid." They both laughed softly, but things weren't back to normal, yet.

"Is that why you lied to me, to make me feel better?" It didn't seem right to the boy.

"It is much more complicated than that." Emma sighed and checked her course again, thanking all the gods for a calm sea and a gentle wind at her back.

"What's more complicated?" Neal slipped behind her and took the wheel, as he quickly checked the compass and the stars. "You did a great job Em. We're right on course for Storybrooke."

"Good to know, I'd hate to end up in Greenland or Iceland or somewhere like that. How's your dad doing?" She could see worry lines on her ex-old lover's face. She tried not to respond to the brush of his body against hers and scent of his aftershave that woke memories she thought she'd successfully erased.

"Sleeping for now. I'm worried he is hallucinating. He just lies there, but keeps muttering about a bell and love. He isn't making much sense."

"That's Belle French, his True Love, not _a_ bell." Henry shook his head in wonder. For a fairytale character, his dad didn't know much. "Do you have your phone, Emma?"

"Sure kid." She handed over her iPhone and both parents watched as he scanned through her photo collection.

"Here, this is them, before she was shot and fell over the town line and lost her memory. Ruby took it and emailed it to everybody." He held the cell for his father to see a picture of a pretty blue-eyed brunette gazing lovingly into Rumpelstiltskin's eyes. The man in the picture had his arm around the woman's shoulders and they were leaning close to one another, against the counter in Mr. Gold's Pawnshop.

"No way!" Neal exclaimed.

"That was what the whole town was saying. Everyone thought Ruby was making it up when she told them Gold was dating a pretty young woman. There were a number of bets riding on proof of a romance. She won a bunch of money with that photo." Emma remembered how surprised she'd been when she and Mary Marg—Snow—her mother…whatever, had returned from The Enchanted Forest and discovered the sneaky pawnbroker had a girlfriend.

"It looks like she loves him, too." Maybe his papa had changed over the centuries they'd been apart.

"She does, or she did until she lost her memory, but they'll figure it out. That's part of the magic of True Love. It took a while, but Emma's parents got it right." Ever the optimist, Henry still believed with all his heart that what was written in his book was gospel. "She even loved him before the curse."

"Ick, do you know what my papa looked like back then and how mean he could be?" Neal wrinkled his nose in disgust and doubt.

"He wasn't mean to her and I've seen pictures from my book, but he is usually in the shadows." The boy wished he could show his own dad, but he'd left his book in Storybrooke for safekeeping. "Belle told me that the first time she kissed him he was Rumpelstiltskin and they were back in his Dark Castle. The kiss began to break his curse, so he pushed her away."

"Figures!" The man at the wheel grunted.

"He should have told her why he needed his powers, she would have understood." Henry insisted.

"In that case I don't think I want to meet her. Sounds like they're two of a kind." Cassidy didn't need to hear things like that. He was trying hard to forgive his papa before the poison reached the man's heart.

"Neal, you're missing the point. Your dad needed the Curse of the Dark One to find you. That is what he should have told Belle, but I guess he'd been hurt by other women in the past and he was afraid to trust her. He was too close to getting you back." For the first time Emma understood why Rumpel had rejected the idea of True Love thirty years ago. A lover could and often did change his mind about loving you, but your child was special. Even if the child stopped caring, a parent never did.

"Oh…" He replied sheepishly. Not wanting to talk about his relationship with his father, he quickly changed the subject. "So is the loss of Belle's memory the complicated thing you guys were discuses when I came on deck?"

"No, that is another complicated matter-"

"Emma was telling me why she lied about you being alive." Henry cut in, still angry with his mom.

"Yeah, I'd kind of like to know about that, too." Neal readjusted their course. He was tacking the ship out into the Atlantic and then in toward the coast when they were nearing their destination.

"What have you told him?" Emma asked gently, not wanting to paint a nasty picture of the father of her child, but unsure how she was going to tell Henry the truth if she didn't.

"All of it. I felt I owned it to you. It wasn't your fault you were alone and in prison when you gave birth. It should have been me behind bars."

"I'm going to check on Mr. Gold." Emma blinked quickly to keep tears that were filling her eyes from falling. Neal's apology went straight to her heart, reminding her why she'd cared so much about him in the past. In the present he wasn't hers and never could be. There was another woman he loved and who loved him. Henry was all that was between them now. It would have to be enough.

Moments later Emma returned from below deck to her son and ex-lover. "Gold is sleeping, though it feels like his fever is getting worse. There are dark circles under his eyes, but I'm not sure if that isn't because he is paler than I've ever seen him. Henry says True Love's Kiss can break any curse we need Belle with her memories intact as soon as we arrive."

"He isn't under a magic spell, he's been poisoned. I'm not sure that Belle with or without her memories of him will be any help."

"It would make him feel better to hold her hand." Henry sat on the deck beside his mother with his arms wrapped around his legs. He wanted his grandfather to live and he wanted him to get his happy ending.

"Any chance we can get her to help?" Neal watched the stricken look on Emma's face afraid to ask where her mind had drifted to as their son had spoken.

"No, she's terrified of him. She saw him use magic to heal her wound seconds after her mind had been wiped clean." The blonde's voice broke as she remembered labor pains and wanting nothing more than the feel of Neal's hand gripping hers. For months her anger had boiled over until she was sure she never wanted to see his face again. But as her body fought to bring their child into the world, she knew she still loved him and probably always would.

"Emma, you were gonna tell me why you didn't explain about dad when I asked." Her son interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure-"

"If you want privacy for that, you can go forward." Neal offered.

"No, this is something that involves all of us." Emma smiled her thanks. "Are you warm enough, Henry?"

"I'm fine. Just answer my question: why did you lie to me."

"I wanted you to have a parent you could be proud of. You thought Regina was Snow White's Evil Stepmother and as much as you cared for her, you wanted to break her curse and change her-"

"But I had you!" Henry cut in. "You are the Savior and was I super proud of you!"

"Kid, you are the only one who believed I was the Savior. I have used True Love's kiss to wake you from a sleeping curse, simultaneously breaking the curse on everyone in Storybrooke. I went to The Enchanted Forest with Snow White, fought ogres, climbed a beanstalk, and have enough magic in me to prevent a mean old witch from taking my heart. Despite all that, there are times when I wonder if I am only dreaming. Part of me is still that abandon kid who fought her way through the foster system. When I told you your dad died a hero, I wanted to give you more than I thought I could ever be. You were ten and needed something to believe in that didn't come out of a book. You also needed a parent who wasn't a manipulative mayor or a twenty-eight year-old nobody, who no one has ever loved."

Henry threw his arms around his mother and hugged her. "I loved you and I still do." He whispered in her ear.

It took all of Neal's control to stay at the wheel. He was engaged to a wonderful woman. The blonde on the deck was his past. He had to look to his future and his son.

"I love you too, kid." She kissed his cheek and whipped away tear tacks from below her eyes. "I promise I'll never lie to you again, except maybe to keep birthday and Christmas gifts a surprise."

"Sounds good to me." Henry beamed at her. "All I ask is that you keep working on believing."

"It's a deal." Emma grinned at both men, as Neal winced at his papa's favorite term. "Give me some time, Henry, and you will trust me again. All I wanted was what was best for you. I know that isn't an excuse, but it is the truth.

**TBC**


	3. Ch 3 - Fairytales

**Disclaimer: **See ch 1

**Note: **There will be a 4th chapter to this story. As usual I write long when I get started.

* * *

Ch. 3 – Fairytales

* * *

"_All truth starts out as a wish, while all reality is born from fairytale."_ Rachelle E. Goodrich – from "My Aquarius"

* * *

_Storybrooke 24 hours after Emma returned in season 3 –_

The town looked the same, though a year had passed since Pan had destroyed it with a reenactment of the Dark Curse. Emma knew exactly how long it had been, and not just because her mom was very pregnant. She knew it because she had her New York memories and, due to the potion Hook had convinced her to ingest, she remembered Storybrooke, Neverland, and all the happiness and sorrows of her life.

"Mary Margaret, thanks for watching Henry for me." She had to fight to keep from giggling whenever she looked at her mother's girth. She wasn't sure if the giggle came from mortification at just how and who caused Snow White's present condition, or if it was because the usually graceful woman waddled.

"Come on kid," she addressed her son and led him out of Granny's diner. "We've got places to go and people to see. Do you have all your things?"

Henry nodded as he handed his mom his Gameboy and slipped into his jacket. "Where are we going?" He looked around the small town that felt slow and old-fashioned, after the bustle of the city he'd lived in all his life.

"We need to talk." Emma led him toward Gold's Pawnshop and Antiques. "But first I want you to meet an old friend of mine."

"Another one?" His brows rose in doubt.

"Yes, another one." She replied as they headed down the street. They'd been in Storybrooke less than twenty-four hours and already her son was beginning to ask questions. She wished she'd explained things to him in New York, but she'd been afraid he'd think she was nuts and she'd never get him in the car.

"Belle," she called as she opened the door and was greeted by the familiar sound of tinkling overhead, announcing their arrival.

"Emma, any word on-" The brunette appeared from the back of the shop, words spilling out, asking about her True Love. She stopped talking when she realized Henry was there too, unsure of what to say in front of him. Snow had warned her that the child had no memory of his true past.

"Nothing new. How are you holding up?" The tall blonde held out her arms as if to hug the much smaller woman, and then suddenly drew back shaking her head, remembering she was a bail bonds person and ex-sheriff who didn't hug, at least not other women.

It caught Belle by surprise that her gruff friend would even attempt such a thing. It was out of character and made her wonder what had happened in New York, or if it was due to the new memories she'd lived with for a year.

"It's hard, but being here in his shop, living in his home, surrounded by the things that meant so much to him, make it easier." She smiled sadly. Belle had trouble believing Rumpel was really dead, despite what she'd seen in the street when he sacrificed himself in order to kill Pan. Each day that passed without him, was harder than the last.

"I need to talk to Henry and wanted a quiet, private place. Could we use your backroom?"

"Sure, I've got some work to do here." She indicted the neatly crowded front room. It was filled with Enchanted Forest treasures, all the proof a person might need to convince a child that fairytale characters were real.

"That's really beautiful." The boy indicated the mobile to the side of the counter. Lovely crystal unicorns danced in the noonday light that slipped in around the shades on the windows.

"It certainly is. It was created with love for a very special child or so the story goes." Belle smiled gently at Snow White's daughter from across the room. "There is a lot of history stored in this shop. Let me know if you need anything."

"I might take you up on that a bit later." Emma led her son into Mr. Gold's office/work area and motioned for the boy to join her on the cot that was tucked into a corner of the room.

"Are you going to tell me why we really came to Storybrooke, Maine?" Her child was as smart as ever. It didn't matter if he was carrying around a handheld gaming device or a one-of-a-kind book filled with truths in the form of fairytales.

"I promised you once that I would never lie to you. What I've got to say may sound crazy but I swear it is the truth and I need you to listen with an open mind. Can you do that?"

"Sure."

"First of all, your name last name is Mills, not Swan-"

"You're not my mom?" Henry gasped. "That woman, the dark haired one…she is…she is…" He couldn't finish the sentence around the lump in his throat.

"I am your mom, oh God, this is so much harder than I thought it would be." Emma hugged him and ran her fingers through his hair. "I am your mother, but Regina Mills is too."

"I don't understand." He scrunched up his nose. "Are you gay? Were you a couple once? Is that why you wouldn't marry Walsh? Is that why you like to have coffee with Lana from down the hall, since her partner has been deployed?"

"Slow down there kid." Emma held up her hands to ward off the questions. "No, I am not gay. Regina and I were never a couple and Walsh, well there are many reasons I didn't want to marry him, some of which I will be explaining very shortly. As for Lana, of course I like to have coffee with her. She makes the best darn French Press I've ever tasted and she's a good friend. Lois being overseas has nothing to do with it." She gripped her hands and knelt in front of her child. "Let me try this again. I'll tell it to you the way you told me."

"What are you talking about?" His mom wasn't making any sense and it was frightening him. He would rather go back to the gay thing. That was no big deal. He had friends at school that had two moms and some that had two dads.

"Just hear me out. But before I go any further, I want you to know that I love you very much and remember that fact, as you listen to what I have to say."

"I love you too, mom." He whispered. Emma had that odd pinched look on her face. Henry had only seen it a few times, but it always meant that something bad was going to happen or had happened. "Why don't we get in the car and leave? We could be back in the City in a few hours. Then you won't have to tell me anything."

"I have to tell you whether we leave or not, because I promised I'd never lie to you, and we can't go, not yet. This town, Storybrooke is important to our past. There are people here who love us very much and need our help. When they don't need us any longer and you understand everything, if you still want to leave, then we're outta here in a New York minute. Are you all right with that?"

"Okay…" He answered slowly, unsure of what he was getting himself into.

"The first thing you have to understand about this place is that…magic is real here." Even as she said it, she stumbled over the words.

He laughed and shook his head. "You had me going there for a minute, mom. Now tell me what this is really all about?"

"I'm telling you the truth and a little bit later I'll prove it to you. I know I sound like a nut job, but I'm not." As Emma spoke, the joy slipped from her boy's face and his eyes filled with doubt and fear. If she trusted her powers more, she'd make something appear or disappear, but with her luck she'd end up turning her son into a wooden puppet. She was going to have to call on Regina for help with the magic proving.

"Oh, mom, you've got problems." He sighed, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Yup, I do and you're the one who is gonna fix 'em, by listening to what I have to say, without interruptions." Emma rolled her eyes realizing they had been through this dialogue before, only she'd been in denial and Henry was trying to convince her.

She was determined to tell him the truth, if it killed her. "You know about your father, Neal Cassidy." She began with the hardest part of her story. It took her an hour to finish telling him everything including his adoption, his trip to Boston, how the first curse broke, his time with his father, the trip to Neverland and finally how and why their memories had been changed.

"You're telling me an Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairytale characters here?" He glared at her. Henry was still stuck at the beginning, or as he saw it, the first step to crazy.

"Yes, but that was before, when they were trapped and time was frozen, but we fixed that."

"All this happened in Storybrooke, Maine, USA, twenty-first century? That's what you're going with?" Henry looked at her with doubt. "The part about me not remembering, run that past me again?"

"I didn't remember until-"

"That strange guy showed up at our door the other day and everything changed." He was furious and confused. "Why are you needed to help them? Why don't the people just leave?"

"They couldn't leave at first, because if they tried, bad things happened. Then when the original Curse was broken, anyone who crossed the town line lost his or her memory. Ask Belle. It happened to her and she forgot everyone, even her… Wait here." Emma stood up and stuck her head through curtain. "Belle, would you text Regina and ask her to come over here, then I need you to tell Henry about what happened when you were hurt and fell across the line and about…ah…Mr. Gold."

"Sure, I'll be right in." The blue-eyed brunette grabbed her cell and plunked in the message before joining mother and son in the backroom. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Just jump in anywhere. I've told him everything, but I'm not having any luck." Swan nodded, kneeling on the floor, sitting back on her heels, with one arm wrapped around her son on the cot. "It took the kid almost a year to convince me, but I don't have that kind of time."

"Mr. Gold is my True Love, his name real name is Rumpelstiltskin, and you have his eyes because he is your grandfather. Everyone thinks he's dead, but I refuse to believe it. He can't be. He simply can't be, not after all this time." Tears filled her eyes.

"Rumpelstilts…" Shocked, the boy could hardly get the name out so he backpedaled. "The guy who spun straw into gold is my grandfather? This can't be real." He denied, "And you left that part out." He glared at his mom.

"No…" Emma thought back carefully. "I said he was Neal Cassidy's dad, sorry maybe I should have been more specific. She's right, you do have his eyes and so does your father."

Henry scowled and ground his teeth, but his expression softened, when he saw how distressed Belle was at the loss of his grand...Rumpel...the man she loved. "What about the town line?" he asked softly.

"Rumpel had concocted a potion that would allow him to leave Storybrooke and remember everything. He had been looking for his son, your father, for a very long time and finally discovered where to find him. We were kissing good-bye very close to the line, when an old enemy of his shot me and I fell to the other side." She sat beside the boy and patted his shoulder. "It was terrible. I didn't recognize anyone or anything. I had forgotten the man I loved, and all my friends. When your grandfather healed my wound with magic it terrified me. He terrified me, because, like you, with my memory gone, I thought magic was only found in children's stories."

"But you're all right now?" Henry asked, unsure what to believe.

"Thanks to The Blue Fairy I got my memory back. But I won't be all right until we figure out what is going on and why none of us can remember anything that happened in the last year."

"Wait! You said The Blue Fairy? Like in the story Pinocchio?"

"Yes." Belle half-smiled and rumpled the boy's hair like she used to when he visited her at the library. "I know how hard this is for you, Henry. When I lost my memory, I thought everyone was crazy, until I remembered again. I even acted differently and not in a good way. It was terrible."

"Am I acting differently?" The question was a test as much as curiosity on the boy's part.

"You've gotten taller and your voice is getting deeper, but that isn't what you're asking. The only real difference I can see is that you carry around an electronic game player instead of a book. You loved to read and always had a book with you. That's something we had in common."

"This is so hard to believe." He gasped, looking back and forth between the women. His mom didn't lie to him and Belle seemed so sincere, but…but…but…it made no sense. Though Belle was right, he did love to read, but he liked to play his Gameboy, too. His Kindle was in his backpack at Mary Margaret and David's.

Emma relaxed for a moment and leaned her forehead against his. "I know exactly how you feel. Remember, I told you my reaction when you showed up at my door in Boston, finagled a ride home to Storybrooke, and then introduced me to Jiminy Cricket and The Evil Queen. I know it's a lot to take in, kid, but I am telling you the truth."

"Does this mean that you are Belle from Beauty and the Beast?" The boy asked the small dark-haired woman.

"Now you're getting the idea." The Beauty replied.

"That would make my grandfather the beast." He used finger quotes around the word grandfather. "But you said he was Rumpelstiltskin. No, no, I don't believe any of this. One of the problems with lying is that it is hard to keep your story straight and you two are messing up big time."

"No, Henry, it is the books that have it wrong. I never thought of Rumpel as a beast, though his temper could be a bit beastly at times. He believed he was, and so did many other people. The thing about True Love, is that it doesn't matter if a person is a beast or a prince, he is loved." Her eyes misted and she bit the corner of her lip to keep from crying. A year may have passed since she saw him last, but with the gap in her memory, it seemed like only a few days.

The boy looked at her with doubt. He had a bit of his mother's gift for knowing a lie when he saw it. Watching both women carefully, it was evident that they believed what they were saying. Now he only had to figure out how to free his mom from her crazy notions so they could get the heck out of Storybrooke.

**TBC**


	4. Ch 4 - The Truth Found In Fairytales

**Disclaimer: **See Ch. 1

**Dedication: **To my daughter Gillian, who prodded me to write this.

**Note: **Sorry the last chapter was delayed. When I split ch 3 and 4, I discovered I really wanted to write some things that had been edited out. It took longer and then I had a small family emergency.

Ch. 4 – The Truth Found in Fairytales

* * *

"_The world is a fairy tale; we are its guardians."_ – Dejan Stojanovic, _The Sun Watches the Sun_

* * *

Regina almost deleted the text from Belle French without reading it. She couldn't think of a thing the two of them had to say to each other. Five minutes passed before she carefully picked up her phone.

"It's only curiosity," she muttered, refusing to acknowledge the lonely ache that had tightened its grip on her heart since seeing her son at Granny's and having him call her Mayor Mills. It wasn't that she was desperate to connect with just anyone who was willing to interact with the _Evil Queen_. "I'm simply showing courtesy to Rumpel's… whatever she was to him…" Regina concluded and opened the message.

She read the words three times before they sunk in. _Emma was speaking to Henry right_ _now about his missing memories_. Seconds later she was in her car, heading for Gold's Pawnshop

* * *

"Henry! I want to see my son." Regina disrupted the quiet conversation that was going on in the back of the shop.

"No," the boy gasped and leaned against Emma's side. That strange woman was saying he was her child and he wasn't. He really-was-not.

"What's wrong with the Bookworm?" Regina noted Belle's unhappy expression, but looked right past her, having eyes only for the boy. "Henry," she whispered and smiled. Happiness radiated off of her, transforming her usually reserved expression to one of joy and love. Both women wondered if that was how she looked before anger and vengeance became the driving force in her life.

"Easy, your highness." Emma stood between him and his adoptive mother.

"Good to see you've got at least _one_ title correct." Regina was once again the haughty ruler the women had dealt with in the past. She tried to step into the crowded back room, but Belle silently blocked her way, earning a frozen glare from the Mayor. "Though we need to work on the important one." She nodded toward her son and mouthed the word, 'mother'.

"He doesn't remember a thing." Blue eyes sparked as Emma protected her child. "I'm trying to tell him the truth about the town and the people who live here. It would be helpful if you would show him that magic is real in Storybrooke." It hurt that total honesty meant she might end up sharing him with Regina. It seemed that magic wasn't the only thing that came with a price.

"Why didn't you do it?" She frowned at the way her son was clinging to the blonde.

"I coulda tried, but I'm kinda out of practice."

"You can do magic, mom?" Henry blurted out in excitement.

"Sort of," Emma answered.

"Yes, I can." Regina replied. Both women responded instinctively to the title of 'mom'.

"Belle, Emma, you back there?" David's strained, excited voice drowned out the ring of the small bell over the door. Something important had happened, there was no other reason for his intrusion. The Prince was aware of what his daughter was attempting and that she wanted privacy.

"Right here." The Beauty moved forward, forcing Regina further into the main room of the shop and away from Henry.

"What's going on?" Emma called from the cot, a reassuring grip on her son's hand.

"We found something but don't know what it means." Grumpy explained.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up, but we had to show you." Charming handed Belle some straw and a long thread of gold."

"Rumpel is alive, I knew it. I just knew it." She hugged first one man and then the other. "Where did you find these? I would recognize his work anywhere."

"We were investigating an abandon farmhouse. There was an outbuilding that looked like a storm shelter or root cellar. At the bottom of the stairs someone had a left a large cage with a spinning wheel inside. We found the straw on the floor and that piece of gold thread was mixed in with it."

"He was caged? No, I have to find him. Where was this farm?" She demanded.

"No Belle, you are not going anywhere." Both Emma and Charming spoke at once.

"Please, let me go to him." Belle felt tears slide down her cheeks and she didn't care who saw her cry. This was about Rumpel and he was all that mattered. "There is only one way anyone could have captured him."

"The dagger." Regina's cold words brought the conversation around her into sharp focus. Up until now she'd only been half-listening to the argument about Rumpelstiltskin's safety and/or whereabouts. She was concentrating on Henry and how she could get him back without frightening him. Now there was a more dangerous worry. "This is not good."

"Is she right?" Charming asked as gently as he could.

"Yes." The Beauty bit her lower lip and stood straight. Blinking away her tears. She would cry later when she knew her True Love was safe. "We have to help him."

"This must be done carefully." The Evil Queen added. "Whoever has the dagger, commands him."

"That's why he kept it so well hidden. It's never been out of his control before. Years of being forced to do another's bidding drove his predecessor to manipulate his own death, rather than continue as he was. Rumpel was determined not to suffer the same fate." Belle looked to Emma who she believed would be most likely to help her. "Please, we need to do something. He saved Henry from Pan. You owe him help when he needs it."

"Easy, Girly." Her old friend the dwarf patted her arm awkwardly. "Anyone who is strong enough to get that blade from him is gonna be big trouble."

"I know, Grumpy." She sniffed. David's description of where the straw and spun gold had been found reminded her of something, but she didn't know what.

"You're Grumpy like in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?" Henry gaped at the little man who scratched his beard, looked to Emma for permission, and then nodded in the affirmative. The boy was thoroughly confused and not ready to believe just anybody. He trusted his mom, and maybe, Belle, but the two men, he wasn't so sure. The Mayor was kinda scary, but he didn't know if that was because he was afraid she would try to take him away from his mother, or if it was something else.

One thing he was positive of, all of these people believed what they were saying. He was beginning to wonder if someone had put some drugs in the water. That would explain everyone's strange actions…but then there was that golden thread. It looked like the one piece of fine jewelry his mom owned, except it wasn't a chain or a necklace or anything. It was simply a piece of gold that was smooth and supple and bent and moved like yarn.

"Sorry, kid, I didn't introduce you properly. As you've guessed, this is Grumpy the Dwarf and this guy, who you've met as David, is your other grandfather, Prince Charming. The very pregnant woman who gave you breakfast this morning is Snow White, your grandma." Emma grinned at her dad as Regina rolled her eyes in the background. No one paid attention to Belle as she unlocked a cabinet and transfers a large book from a shelf to the counter.

The cynical glint in Henry's eyes told them he wasn't buying it. "Okay, let me get this straight." He looked at Emma. "You think you're the daughter of 'Snow White' and 'Prince Charming'." He nodded toward David. "He looks kinda young to be your father." His Mom tried to break in but the boy kept on talking. "That's right, time was 'frozen', so no one aged. You, your 'Grumpy the dwarf'." Grumpy nodded in agreement. "And you're 'Beauty', better known as Belle, who is in love with my 'grandfather', 'Rumplestiltskin', who may or may not be dead, but is the 'beast'." His fingers twitched putting quotes around the words he thought were proof of how nuts everyone was.

"He's got that one right!" Regina cut in. "Gold is a manipulative beast."

"He is not!" Belle glared. The book she'd take from the locked cupboard and been leafing through, momentarily forgotten. Her research into Charming's oddly familiar words put on hold. "I'm not saying his actions were correct, but he never would have tried to harm you, if you hadn't…" The Beauty stumbled over her words. Regina was Henry's adoptive mother and when he had his memory, he loved her. Honesty was the best course of action, but until he remembered his old feelings, she didn't want to make things harder. "If you hadn't kept us apart." That covered it without going into details. "He wouldn't have…uh…retaliated."

"Easy, does it you two." Emma nodded toward her son in hopes of cooling everyone's temper. Belle was being her usual diplomatic self, for the moment, but her cheeks were tinged with pink and her sparkling blue eyes hard. If the Mayor kept harassed her, Henry would get a display of words and magic in a not so positive way. The ex-sheriff might doubt her own powers, but she could feel the wards and protective spells Rumpelstiltskin had placed in his shop and around his True Love to keep her safe in his absence. She hoped Regina could too.

Before things could escalate, Henry faced the Mayor with a question. "I know who these people 'think' they are, but who are you? Since you _say_ you've got 'magic'," He was back to the finger quotes and eyes rolling in disbelief. "My guess would be…" He thought for a moment. "'The Blue Fairy', but you don't look very fairyish."

"I certainly am not!" The Evil Queen exploded and Grumpy laughed deep and hard. David covered his mouth to keep from giggling, but his eyes sparkled in delight. "You didn't tell him?" She questioned the blonde woman, in surprise.

"When he asked, I said you had lived in the Enchanted Forest, too, but it was your story to tell." Emma shrugged. It had been a spur of the moment decision, as she explained about his adoption. She knew from her first year in town that Regina wouldn't have been as polite. "I was only thinking of Henry."

"So who are you?" The boy looked her up and down, wearing his most innocent expression, sure that her delusion had to be a whopper if his mom hadn't been willing to add it to the rest of the story she was weaving.

"I…I…" Regina looked around the room. She had total command of the floor and was beginning to squirm. This was one conversation she wished Miss Swan had covered or if not, that she could talk to Henry about it in private. Instead she pulled her dignity around her like a ermine cloak. She was not going to give these people anything more to laugh about. "I am a Queen. I married Snow's father ..."

"You're the Evil Stepmother!" Henry yelped. "You ordered your Huntsman to cut out her heart and bring it back to you in a box!"

"Why do people always have to say it that way?" She knew she wasn't always the kindest person, but was she really that evil?

"How could you have let her adopt me if she was evil?" He demanded of Emma. "I don't believe you, any of you, and I'm sick of all the lying." The boy jumped to his feet and made a run for the door, but Charming was too quick for him.

"Hold it, Tiger." He held his grandson until he stopped wiggling.

"Henry, I love you. I have always loved you." The Queen's eyes filled with tears and she turned to leave, totally defeated. "I would never hurt you."

"Wait, Regina, Henry, all of you." Belle held out her arms for the child and he let her hug against her side, careful to keep the counter between them and the Evil Queen. "Listen to me for a moment. I know your mom." She looked at Emma, reassuring the blonde who she was referring to. "And…ah…everything we've told you is really hard to believe, but I can tell you something that is easy to understand. It is something you already know. You are loved, Henry, by everyone in this room and a number of people who aren't here."

"If I'm loved why is my mom trying to give me away?" He cried.

"Oh, kid, I'm not." Emma was by his side in an instant. "Remember I told you that Regina and I were both your moms? She loves you too."

"If what you say about all of this…" he threw his arms in the air, indicating the shop, the people and the town. "If you are being honest with me, then she is The Evil Queen. How can she love if she is evil?"

"Henry-" Regina tried to defend herself, but was crying too hard to speak.

"Henry," Belle took over. "Your grandfather is Rumpelstiltskin. He is not a hero or a prince. Many people think he is very bad, but I know there is good in him. I have seen it. He has always been wonderful to me. Ask your grandmother, Snow, about her dealings with him before she and Charming got together. She thought he was fair and honest. We talked about it once and I've never known Snow White to lie. The important thing about this is that it doesn't matter if he is good or bad, I love him with all my heart and he loves me. I know that Regina Mills loves you, whether she is the Mayor, the Queen, or simply a woman."

"Belle is right." The ex-sheriff interjected. "When you brought me to Storybrooke two years ago and I met your…uh…mother…She told me how much she loved you. She told me about taking care of you as a baby, changing every diaper, soothing every fever and nightmare. That is a woman who loves." The words were tearing the ex-sheriff apart, but they were the truth and she had promised to always tell her son the truth.

David took over reassuring his grandson. "When you were born, Emma Swan gave you up so you would have your best chance at a good life. A year ago, when destructive magic was sweeping down on Storybrooke, Regina loved you enough to send you off with your mom, so you wouldn't be alone in this world. You were the only one who couldn't return to The Enchanted Forest under the curse, because you weren't born there. Emma could live in either place, since she was only minutes old when I placed her in the wardrobe that brought her here. Regina not only sent you with Emma, but she gave you both happier memories of your past, to replace the ones you lost when you crossed the town line. Those are the actions of a woman who loves you very much."

"Thank you," Regina could hardly get the words out. "Thank you for telling him the truth."

"You're family. I was raised to always be honest, especially with family." Charming smiled sadly remembering his mother and the small farm where he'd grown-up.

"Henry," Emma knelt behind the counter where Gold has stood so often. She held her son's hands gently, trying to infuse love and hope into her voice. "I know all of this is confusing and sounds like nuts. I've been exactly where you are now, trying to make sense of something that seemed impossible. I promise we will talk more about this tonight. You can ask all the questions you want and I will answer them, but right now I need you to go with Mayor Mills for the afternoon, while we do some checking around? The most important thing is that you are safe. She will protect you."

"You are coming back?" He looked unsure and worried.

"I'll always come back for you. You are my son and I love you very much." She kissed his head and made him blush. "Regina?"

"No harm will come to him while he is in my care and, yes, I will bring him back. Should we meet you at Granny's or Mary Margaret's?" She was happy her son was learning the truth and she was smart enough to know it was going to take time for him to believe it. The last thing she wanted was to frighten him.

"Mary Margaret's would be best. I'm sorry, but could you drop him off by 5:00. I don't want him out after dark. There are too many unanswered questions." Emma was aware of how painful this was for the Evil Queen, but they both wanted what was best for Henry. It was Neverland all over again. Hopefully the gold yarn and pieces of straw were not a sign of disaster, but there was still the question of everyone missing a year of their life.

"I can't agree with you more." It hurt, but Regina knew Ms. Swan was right. Henry was what was important. She turned to him and held out her hand. "How about it? Would you like to see where you used to live? I still have your toys and when I heard you were in town I baked a batch of your favorite brownies. There is a playground on our way ho…to the house we used to share. You could see where you used to play"

"That sounds… uh…great." He stood beside the dark-haired woman, but held back, unwilling to take her outstretched hand.

"It's all right, Henry. I know this is a lot for you to accept and I promise I'll have you back to your…uh…mother's by 5:00." Regina smiled trying to put her son at ease despite the bitter taste in her mouth from calling Emma his mother.

"Okay, Mayor Mills." The boy moved through the pawnshop with the strange woman.

"You may call me Regina, if that feels comfortable. I know it is too soon for…well… you used to call me mom." Her voice broke and she looked up and glared at Emma who was talking strategy with Charming and Grumpy while Belle had her nose in one of Rumpel's ancient books, again. She had a sick feeling that she had just traded places with the blonde interloper. She was going to be the outsider, fighting for Henry's affections, while the woman who had given him up twelve years ago was now firmly entrenched as his mother.

"Can you really do magic?" The child's voice drifted back to Emma, when the Evil Queen reached for the knob on the door at the front of the pawnshop.

"Yes." In a puff of purple smoke Henry's Gameboy, that he'd forgotten on the cot in the backroom, was sitting in her hand. All of the adults in the room grew silent, waiting for the boy's reaction. The only sound that could be heard was the tinkling of the bell over the door, as Regina opened it.

"Was that magic?" he gasped, blinking in disbelief.

"Yes, one kind. Do you want to see it again?" Her lips turned upward in a deep red smile of triumph. All Henry could do was shake his head yes, while the others looked on.

Instead of saying anything, Regina's eyes sparkled as purple smoke filled her hand and suddenly the Gameboy materialized next to Belle. Whatever she was reading had her completely absorbed. She was missing the display of power.

"Oh," the Beauty was caught by surprise when she looked up and saw the toy next to her elbow.

"I'm sorry, Belle, I didn't mean to startle you." The Queen gave the young woman a guanine smile for the first time since she'd met her on the road thirty plus years ago.

"I know." She held the device out to Henry. "It wouldn't have gotten through Rumpel's protection spells if you had. I may not be able to do magic, but I can feel it around me." She smiled and went back to her book as the tickle of purple smoke massaged her palm, causing the toy to return to the Mayor.

"Here you are, Henry." She passed the item to him. "Next time be sure not to leave it laying around." Each word spoken like a mother who had said them many times before.

"I think he gets the point." Emma sighed. "We'll talk more about it tonight, kid. I love you and have fun this afternoon." Henry nodded, shocked silent as he examined his toy for anything that would explain what had just happened.

"Wait, come back in and close the door." Excitement laced Belle's voice and caught everyone's attention. "I think I know what this is about." She addressed Charming, Grumpy, Emma, Regina and a wide-eyed Henry. "You said you found the straw and Rumpel's gold yarn in a storm cellar. Yesterday Robin reported some strange flying creatures attacking his camp and Grumpy, didn't you say those things were attacking anyone who neared the town line. A storm cellar, strange flying creatures, that sounds like-"

Before she could finish, Henry cried out in surprise, "If they are flying monkeys, it's the Wizard of Oz! Mom, didn't you say Walsh turned into something that looked like a monkey with wings?" For one tiny second he believed, truly believed and then reality struck and he could only watch as the adults tried to put together the pieces to a puzzle that made no sense.

"Yeah, kid, I did. So does that mean we've got the Wizard running around causing trouble or the Wicked Witch of the West, or was it the East, I can never keep them straight." Emma Swan, the Savior, was back, ready to solve mixed up fairytales and break curses. She'd been so worried about the explaining things Henry that he was the only one she'd told about her ex-boyfriend morphing into a strange creature with wings.

"That would be the West." Regina entered the conversation, again. "She is a very dangerous woman. She is the reason none of the Kingdoms would deal with Oz. Now it would appear that she has The Dark One under her control, as well. This is not good."

"She's right." Belle agreed, "But I need to study this more. I may be able to discover if she has a vulnerability." She reached for another of her lover's private collection on magic and the history of the realms. "I need to do further research. We have to help him."

"Didn't any of you guys read the book?" Henry looked from one adult to another. "I know you did, mom, we read it together. All you need to destroy her is water."

"One thing I've discovered about Storybrooke is that the fairytales that are told in the outside world aren't what really happened In The Enchanted Forest. I'm putting my money on Belle's research, incase Oz has the same problems." Emma spoke gently to her son.

"Belle?" Regina moved to the counter so they were very close. "I…thank you for what you said to Henry, after all I've done…well…. thank you. I would like to offer help. If it is the Wicked Witch of the West who has Rumpel and he is under her control, you aren't safe with the wards he's placed on his shop, home and I'd bet, even you."

"He'd never hurt me, never." The Beauty insisted.

"He wouldn't be able to stop himself, if whoever has the dagger orders him to."

"She's right Belle," Charming joined the conversation. "He'd never come back from that, ever. He spoke of you once, back in our land. When he thought you were lost to him. He said you were, '_a brief flicker of light amid an ocean of darkness'."_

"Oh, he never told me." She sniffed.

"You should listen to Regina." David nodded to the Queen.

"I'll place some wards around the shop and his house." She grimaced but continued. "His protections are stronger because he mixed them with True Love, but if mine are there, as well, you'd have a chance to get away."

"But I don't want to get away from him." She argued.

"Belle, do you really want him to have it on his conscious that he harmed you, or worse, while someone else guided his actions. I wouldn't be able to live if I knew I was the reason something happened to Snow. I've seen the way Gold looks at you. He wouldn't be able to either."

"All right, but he will hate this." Belle sighed. "Thank you Regina, anything you can do would be appreciated."

Grumpy left to discreetly let The Blue Fairy know what they believed to be happening. More information was needed before the entire town was put on alert.

While the two women and Charming were talking at the counter, Emma pulled Henry aside.

"How are you holding up, kid?" She smiled softly.

"I don't know what to believe." Henry sighed.

"I know exactly how you feel." Emma laughed remembering her first year in Storybrooke. "Are you all right going with Regina? She'll keep you safe and bring you back to Mary Margaret and David's apartment by 5:00."

"I'll be fine. I'm still confused." His brown eyes were filled with doubt. "But I saw her make my Gameboy appear and disappear. It had to be magic…it…it's hard to wrap my head around."

"With luck, Rumpelstiltskin is alive, we can get him back, and he will have the knowledge and ingredients to make more of that remembering potion."

"That would make Belle happy. She loves him a lot."

"Yes she does." Emma agreed. "I love you, Henry and I'm sorry we are having to go through all this. Part of me wishes Killian hadn't shown up in New York and made me see the truth. Then we never would have known about all this craziness. We would have gone on living our lives like normal people."

"You don't really mean that." Henry's brows rose in surprise.

"Part of me does. The part of me that is your mom and nothing else." She mourned her ignorance and was sorry she had to inflict the truth on her son.

"But then we would have been living a lie."

"Does that mean you're beginning to believe me about Storybrooke?" She gasped.

"I don't know what I believe. I've seen some strange things, like enchanted Gameboys." He held up his game looking for the hundredth time for strings, or hooks or anything that could explain to his rational mind how it had appeared and disappeared. "Magic is a possibility, but that isn't what is important. The important thing is that I love you and I know you love me. I trust you because no matter what my head says, my heart says you wouldn't lie to me. I'll keep an open mind about all the rest, because you 'believe' all this fairytale stuff and you are doing a very hard thing, trying to make me believe, simply to be honest with me."

"Oh Henry," Tears filled Emma's eyes and she slipped to her knees to hug her child. "You're the best kid ever and I do love you."

"Love you, too," he whispered to his mom. He knew the next few days were going to be tough, but he had promised to keep an open mind and he would.

**The End**


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